It's Good To Be Back

I know, I know..."Where in the hell have you been??" My month long trip home (Louisiana) for the holidays ended up turning into a three month visit. Whew...by the time I got home (North Carolina) I was exhausted lol.

There's so much to tell y'all about. First of all..........

I'M GONNA BE A GRANDMOTHER!
My son and his girlfriend found out a week or so after Christmas that they are pregnant. And though I always dreamed of my son being married and having all his stuff together...how can I be mad about a grand baby? I can't!

I'm beyond excited. Hubby is currently looking for a job in Louisiana (or close to it) and we'll hopefully be moving before the baby gets here. She's due on my birthday. We'll find out on April 9th if it's a boy or a girl.

Once I found out about the baby I decided to stay in Louisiana long enough to go to the first ultrasound appointment. I can't begin to describe to y'all what that was like. I was bawlin' like a damn baby in the room once I heard the heartbeat and saw the baby!

My Dad was also hospitalized while i was there. His health isn't good at all. I constantly worry about him now that I'm home. I can't wait until I'm there so I can take care of him!

I ended up staying with my Niece and her family most of the time that I was there. It was nice, though I'm not used to being around three kids under the age of 9 anymore lol.

Here's a bunch of pics, in no particular order...

My son and I on Christmas Eve

My Sister Denise, Nephew in law Luis and his friend Floyd

My Son's gf and I. Girlfriend can dance lol.

My BIL Tomy on his paddle board. They live on the bayou and their bar/restaurant is on the bayou so sometimes they just jump on their paddle boards to go to the bar. Lmao!

My Sister Diann

Amanda (Niece), Denise (Sister), Me and Amanda (AKA Lil Tot since there are now two Amanda's in the family. She's my Grand baby's Momma lol)

I let my Niece Amanda fix my hair. This was taken while she was in the middle of her giving me a "Jersey Bump", I now see why she told me to NOT look in the mirror until she was done.

Diann (Sister) and I at her bar watching the LSU game.

Louisiana Sunset

Lil Tot and I

My Godchild/Niece Destiny and I.

My Niece Amanda's son Maddox. I fell in love with this little guy while I was there. He calls me Onnie (he can't say Aunt lol)

My Nephew Eric and I.

My Sister Diann and her hubby Tomy before going to the Apollo Mardi Gras Ball. How gorgeous is her dress??

Lil Tot and I.

Diann, Amanda and I

Amanda and her husband Luis

Amanda and I

Moi

My Son and I

Sisterly love

One of my new favorite shots. It's called a finger me good but since my Niece Amanda and I refuse to call it that we just call them "FMG's". They're so yummy! 3/4th's a shot of crown 1/4th a shot of butterscotch schnapps. 

When I landed in Lafayette (Louisiana) the first thing I saw was this woman dressed as Mrs Clause. Head to toe...it was hilarious!

Me, Rusty, and Amanda. Vegas bombs baby.

Cheers!

Baby bump

Diann and Tomy before the Apollo Ball

Me again

My new car hubby got me while I was gone. Since I'll be making a few road trips to Louisiana until we move there he decided to sell mine and get me this one. 

Diann before the ball...none of us realized that she had her glasses hanging on her dress until after we took these pics lol.

Maddox on "Wacky, Tacky" day at daycare for Dr. Suess' birthday.

 Hubby's daughters crossing the finish line of the Shamrock Marathon. I cut my trip short in order to be able to be there to watch them cross the finish line. So proud of both of them!

They rock!

My Son telling me that we've taken enough pictures and he's not taking anymore with me.

Amanda and I at her birthday party. My Son is on the left in the background and my Dad is on the right. 

Rusty and I

Amanda and I thinking we look cute on the dance floor.

Quite a few things happened while I was there, and I learned quite a few things too. Here's a list.

A member of my family  was extremely drunk and took my bottle of pain pills out of my purse and took a bunch of them. We're still not sure how many were taken but when I found her, her pupils were unresponsive and she barely had a pulse. She was rushed to the hospital (by ambulance) and released the same night. She didn't intentionally try to commit suicide, she was just drunk and depressed. But...this happened on Christmas Eve night. 

A friend of mine passed away. He was 35 years old and they're pretty sure he had a massive heart attack. Because of his passing away I got to see his brother who used to be one of my best friends. He'd been in a car wreck 7 years earlier and had massive brain injuries. The last time I saw him he was in a wheelchair. When I saw him at the funeral he's walking with a crutch and sounds like the guy I knew before the wreck. It was amazing to see him and get to spend some time with him.

I learned that my Son isn't dealing with his father's suicide as well as I thought he was and that he needs me more now than I think he has since he was little. Especially with a baby on the way. He's also not dealing with my living so far away as I thought he was. It breaks my heart to know that. It also broke my heart to see my adult son cry every time I talked about coming home. 

I learned that my Father's health is even worse than I thought it was and that he isn't taking care of himself at all. He needs me there, and he wants me there to take care of him. None of my other family members who live there have the time to take care of him.

I learned that I need to go home. I need to be with my family just as much as they need to be there. It's hard living somewhere that you have very few (one) friends. It's also hard to live around a bunch of people who you feel like will never accept you no matter how much you accept them.

I've learned that someone that I thought I was at least civil with has been talking about me behind my back. I never considered the bitch a friend but she sure is an enemy now!

I've learned that there are some things I should not read. It's only going to piss me off. I've also learned that some people are mean just for the sake of being mean. And because they're so damn immature that they don't care who's feelings they hurt. Hell, if I had to guess I'd say that was the intention all along.

I also realized that I have an amazing family. We might be dysfunctional but we love each other and we support each other no matter what. 

I've missed reading my favorite blogs and cant wait to catch up with all of you!

Last Minute Preps..........

As excited as I am for my trip home in a couple of days, I'm in bummed mode right now. Wanna know why? Because of this hunka hunka gorgeousness!

I'm sure I've mentioned it her before, so forgive me if you've heard it before. See, going home is always a "choice" for me.  It's so damn expensive to fly home that hubby has never been able to come with me. Not to mention that he works, a lot. And it's not easy for him to get much time off usually. So I can never have both hubby and my family at the same time. I'm either with him, or I'm with my family. It sucks. I'm always missing someone.

I hate leaving hubby. I mean, for obvious reasons...the man is a whole lotta gorgeous lol. But I always miss sleeping next to him, laying on the couch watching TV with him. Listening to him get pissed off at his Black Op's game when he gets killed. (That's a whole other hilarious blog entry for another day!) Watching him get dressed in his dress clothes for his teams wrestling matches with the nice new tie that I got him for xmas that is the schools colors. I'm gonna miss him. Being away from him for two weeks sucks.

Don't get me wrong, I love going and visiting with my family. I have a great time while I'm there and I soak up every single second that I get with my son (who works too damn much while I'm there!), with my Sisters, and even with my Daddy. I visit my friends. I eat some of the most amazing food you could imagine (it's Cajun food people, come on!), and I drink way too much.

But I still miss Mr Luvah Luvah! Last night we actually went out and had a couple of beers. We haven't done that since I first moved here. It was nice. He'd promised me that we'd spend some time together before I left, and with his parents staying here with us that's not so easy to do at home. So we went out. It was really nice, I told him we'd have to do it again.

He wont be bored though. He's going to have his parents to keep him company (and drive him a lil crazy too lol), and our fur babies. Not to mention Black Op's! (The man is addicted y'all!) But best of all?? His daughter who moved out of state a couple of months ago is coming down for a visit. He's really looking forward to seeing her. (I'm so bummed I'm gonna miss getting to see her!) So I know he wont be lonesome.

I'm almost ready...I think. I'm sure I'll forget five or 20 things that I absolutely needed. I always do.

I'm a list maker. I have to be y'all! ADHD is not a good thing to have when (actually never) you're packing to go home for a two week visit and you're walking in a wedding.
.

But, the list has helped to keep me on track, so I think I've done pretty good this time around lol. I've still got a few things left to do, but for the most part...I'm ready! Gonna make some sea salt cashew brittle tonight to bring home with me for Rusty. God I can't wait to see him y'all! Nothing like giving your (yeah, I know! He's 21 and not a baby anymore! Hush!) baby a big ol' hug when you haven't seen them in a couple of months. Sigh...can't wait!

I hope you're all doing well!

I've been a crafting fool...a photo entry.

 I've been making a bunch of crafts in the last couple of weeks. Some for myself, some are going to be xmas presents. I've been having a lot of fun with it and wanted to show y'all some of them, but first...a few random pics from the last couple of weeks.

The pugs bath time. They LOVE taking baths. Whoever isn't the first to go in the tub will sit and supervise Hubby while the bathes the other. They'll also sit and cry almost the entire time. Drives hubby nuts. I'm so glad he bathes them...it kills my back bending over that damn tub!! ♥ him!

{good job Daddy}

{I need a closer look}

{is it my turn yet?}

{oh yeah...that's the spot}

{omg}

{stop with the damn pics already}

{I mean it}

{Gidgette napping with Daddy}

{new tatt is almost healed...and his hair is growing back in lol}

I put up the tree a couple of days ago, so I decided to take some pics of my favorite ornaments. I've never been one of those people who has to have my tree just perfect. My ornaments are a mish mash of  different times in my {and hubby's} life. If I had my way, I'd have a real tree every year...but hubby hates them {and the mess}. And since he's usually the one who takes it down...I don't mind the fake tree lol.

My SIL gave me this one on Thanksgiving. She picked it up at a thrift store for us. Our last name begins with a Y {in case you didn't pick up on that lol}. 

The ornament above and the one below were my Mom's. They're the only two I have left. Somehow they've all gotten broken over the years. 

{had to have a Harley on the tree} I think one of hubby's daughters got him this for xmas one year! 

{I like this one just because it's "funky"} 

{Rusty made this one in high school in his freshman year} 

I am the daughter of a Vet.

The wife of a Vet.

And the daughter in law of a Vet. 

{We support our troops around the world} 

{I love these little crystal ones because of the way the colored lights shine off of them} 

{My big Sister Denise got me this one year. My Sister, My Friend.}

Now, about the crafts... every year when hubby takes down the tree and packs it all up he always takes the xmas card that we got for that xmas and packs them in the ornaments box. I took them this year and made some coasters out of them. {I did the same thing with a bunch of the cards that hubby and I had given to each other over the years, that's the coasters we normally use} I thought they'd be cute to have out during the holidays. 

{Lol loved this one! BIL sent this to hubby and I. Inside it said "Well, you said you never get shit from Santa!"} 

{This one is crooked as hell lol} 

I'm still not finished with them...I still need to spray some clear spray paint on top of them to seal them and put some cork or those little pad thingys on the bottom so they wont scratch the furniture.

This is the scarves that I've started making. Hubby's daughter asked me to make her a purple/white/grey one for her, so this one is for her..

The next crafts are xmas gifts so if you're my SIL {I don't think I've ever told her my blog addy, but just in case!!!} STOP READING NOW...PLEASE!

Sometime last year I made one of these frames for our house and my SIL loved it, so I made her one for xmas. Shhhh...I'm also making one for my MIL. She's wanted once since she saw mine lol. A good friend of mine also asked me to help her make one for her parents. I really should start selling them lol. 

I wanted to make something to go with SIL's frame so I made her these coasters. I think she's going to love these!! 

{Our Niece Abi...how gorgeous is she?} 

{Our Nephew KJ...in a couple of years his parents are going to be beating the girls off with a stick! He's adorable!} 

{SIL and BIL...I swear, I've never seen a man more in love with his wife. They're an adorable couple. They're one of those couples who'll still be together when they're 80!!} 

{Our Pug in laws lol...Joba and Monty. I told y'all that we're a Pug lovin' family!} 

{Their family at our wedding almost two years ago} 

{I love this pic of the two of them! They're so funny!}

Well, that's the crafts I've been making. Have y'all been making any goodies? If so, what?